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Photospheric vortices and coronal heating

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Abstract

We have used the results of a realistic simulation of convection to estimate the power input to coronal loops from the twisting of photospheric magnetic field in intergranular vortices. In this simulation, the vorticity is large (a mean of 0.03 s−1) nearly everywhere in the intergranular lanes, not merely at the corners of three granules. We found the autocorrelation time of vorticity images to be 45 s, but individual vortices last as long as 144 s. Our estimate suggests that field line twisting could supply a substantial fraction, if not all, of the required power to the quiet corona.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Solar Observatory/Sacramento Peak, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, 88349, Sunspot, NM, USA

    Jack B. Zirker

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  1. Jack B. Zirker
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Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.

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Zirker, J.B. Photospheric vortices and coronal heating. Sol Phys 147, 47–53 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00675486

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00675486

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